Pico Rivera Slaughterhouse Auction Postponed

The last slaughterhouse in the Los Angeles region is primed for a makeover, but the sale still has some meat left on the bone.

On Wednesday, the auction of the former Manning Beef plant at 9531 Beverly Road in Pico Rivera was postponed, as Pico Rivera city leaders and animal rights advocates appeared at a downtown Los Angeles courthouse to lobby for permanently ending slaughter operations in the L.A. County city, the Los Angeles Daily News reported. The property is valued at $7.4 million, per auction documents.

Manning Beef closed last October after filing for bankruptcy in 2024. Manning Land Company, which owns the land where Manning Beef operated, filed for bankruptcy in California Central Bankruptcy Court on Tuesday. It isn’t clear if the delay for the auction was tied to Manning Land’s bankruptcy, though the filing could mean the sale of the land could take several more months, Ben Williamson, executive director of national animal advocacy nonprofit Animal Outlook, said.

Pico Rivera city officials are hopeful that the Manning site will have a future outside the meat industry. Under the city’s stewardship, the location could become public open space, affordable housing or a sustainable food hub, according to the Daily News.

“This moment presents a rare opportunity for Pico Rivera to thoughtfully reimagine the future of a long-standing industrial site in the heart of our community,” Pico Rivera Mayor Gustavo Camacho said. “Our priority is to ensure that whatever comes next truly benefits our residents, protects public health and aligns with our values as a city.”

Manning Beef attracted national headlines in 2020 when Joaquin Phoenix, an avowed vegan, visited the site the day after winning an Oscar and rescued two cows from slaughter. The actor commended the “unexpected compassion of owner Anthony DiMaria.” Advocates from Animal Outlook, as well as Pico Rivera politicians themselves, also don’t want to see the building reactivated for meat processing.

“Our goal is to ensure this property never again operates as a slaughterhouse,” Pico Rivera city manager Steve Carmona said.

— Chris Malone Méndez